49ers settle on Jimmy Raye at OC: Good guy, not exactly a cutting-edge wizard

* 3:41 p.m. Thursday update: The 1991 Rams connections are HUGE. Just remembered that a recently firedcollege off-coor joined the offensive staff midway through the season… guy by the name of Mike Martz. Yep, Martz and Raye were on that coaching staff together.

Jimmy Raye, I must first point out, gave me the most poignant, memorable quote about another coach that I ever couldn’t use.

When I think of NFL hard-scrabble coaching reality, and a journalist’s relationship to it, I always think of Jimmy and the seven words he once said to me.

It was near the end of the 1991 LA Rams season. Raye was already a craggily NFL veteran by then, and he had re-joined on the offensive staff under John Robinson and off-coor Ernie Zampese that terrible year (capped by a 10-game losing streak).

At that point, I was shockingly writing not-so-nice things about ol’ JR. Jimmy and I always got along, but it was tense all over back then.

On the morning I had written a particularly factual but also devastating piece about Robinson’s contractural status–a story that apparently all but put an end to JR’s Rams career (I always thought the 10-game losing streak was a bigger factor, but JR didn’t and still doesn’t agree)–the first person I saw at Rams Park was Jimmy.

Raye was grimacing. He pointed over to Robinson’s office, then looked at me.

Other than: The article was true. And: Good point, Jimmy, wish you hadn’t put it like that, but good point.

Interesting little trivia notes:

-The defensive coordinator on that ’91 Rams staff was… Jeff Fisher.

-The person Raye replaced on the Rams staff was… Norv Turner, who left after the ’90 season to join the Cowboys and almost immediately started winning Super Bowls.

Whoa man, that is an awfully sidewinding way to get to the 49ers news of the night: The 49ers have by all accounts zeroed in on Raye after the long search for an offensive coordinator.

This is NOT quite a thrilling hire, for a hundred reasons. But I wanted to make sure I first noted that Jimmy is a good guy, he’s a man of integrity, and also…

It’s not his fault that Mike Singletary’s offensive absolutism probably warded off so many of the guys who might have a sharper, more modern idea of what they want to do.

In other words: The 49ers’ self-selected themselves right out of the running for most of the very intriguing OC candidates and what they ended up with is a guy who has been through the wars 10 times over but certainly won’t wow anybody with offensive pizzazz.

Hue Jackson was the final candidate between Raye and the OC job and I’d bet that Jackson, too, ran into the last buzzsaw…

This is going to be Singletary’s offense.

Those are seven more words to remember: Scott Linehan probably knew that, Dan Reeves maybe figured that out, and, from what I hear, other candidates and potential candidates all came to that conclusion, too.

Hue Jackson might’ve accepted those pre-conditions, but maybe Singletary decided that Jackson would try to sneak in too many fancy plays. I don’t think that’s the case with the apparent hire.

This is going to be Singletary’s offense. He’s not an offensive guy in any way. But this is SINGLETARY’S OFFENSE.

Jimmy Raye will call the plays. Shaun Hill or somebody else will play quarterback. Jed York will pay the bills. Scot McCloughan will be the lead football executive.

But it will be Mike Singletary at the helm–his principles, his emotions, his system, his hand on the steering wheel.

Now, if you think that Mike Martz did an amazing job adapting to Singletary in the second half of last season, mixing the crazy Martz schemes into Singletary’s smashmouth devotion, I agree.

I also agree that there was no way Martz could’ve stayed on with Singletary–they were two absolutists who never could be together for the long-term.

But I also believe that Singletary is better off with a creative, forceful guy working the offense. That way, the only thing Singletary has to do is tone down the offense. All the stuff is there, and Singletary can pare it down a bit.

What if there isn’t much to the offense? What if the 49ers run into a series of games when smashmouth isn’t working? That might be why a guy like Linehan bowed out–the OC is going to get blamed if things don’t work (especially blamed by MS), and Singletary’s going to get credit for everything that does work.

That’s certainly the case with this presumed OC hire.

Can Singletary figure out a way to get receivers loose? I don’t think so. Can Jimmy Raye? This is going to be a large question, a standing question for the entirety of their time together.

But we can safely presume this: The 49ers don’t have to worry about their OC bolting after a year for a head-coaching job. They sure don’t have to worry about that. (Of course, they didn’t have to worry about that with Jim Hostler, either.)

Sorry Jimmy. Hope I didn’t cause you physical or mental or any kind of pain with this item. If I did, that’s the way it goes.

Singletary should be fired after one year… though i can’t guarantee that, because as we saw with Nolan… they are more than willing to stand by a loser for a couple more years than take the financial hit of letting a lousy head coach go. Sing effectively ruined his coaching career with his firing of Martz.

30OC25BB08SY

Would Raye’s hiring rule out drafting Sánchez if he’s available?

Charlie Brown

good grief.

conservative pick from a conservative coach. why try for great when you can get just good enough? *sigh*

oh well, this is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.

at least i’ll have my sundays free next football season. maybe i’ll take up hiking or something like that.

dominmatrix

If I’m Sanchez, I’m hoping like hell that I get drafted by KC.

The Real Rathman

I am so disappointed in Singletary. They should just move this crappy franchise to LA and change the name. Firing Martz was insanity, the guy won a super bowl ring as a coordinator. What has Jimmy Ray ever won.

NINERS4LIFE

Niners need Shanahan already. Get rid of these bozos!

C-ROD49

To all you whiners, shut the fock up and get out of the way 4 the real true niner fans are still going 2 ride with this team. How can u wish your team to move, only if your not a true fan that’s how. 49ers 4 Life!!!!

idiotsingletary

I swear this organization has just gone down the tubes…I would love to give Raye the benefit of the doubt but this is a classic example to why the seats in SF will be empty by game 4 next year !…I’m wondering if SF don’t come back against the lowly Rams earlier this year (catch made my Josh Morgan) would Singletary be a coach ?….I don’t think Oakland gives a guy like Singletary a time or day to coach their team.

As for McCloughan…he makes Matt Millen look like Bill Walsh….I have officially boycotted SF until there are some serious changes in that front office

Sid

Prediction for next season? 2-14? 3-13? Or perhaps we will end up like the Lions did after they fired Martz for a OC who is older than dirt and will not command the respect of the players.

My Dad taught me as a kid “one in the hand is worth two in the bush”. Classic example hear of throwing away a gem in hand for a better one that is not there.

Martz and Singletary were perfect for one another but Singletary’s stubbornness will send us down the toilet.

Jim Hosteler is a better choice than Jimmy Raye……its so damn SAD to be a 49er fan right now…..

9erlifer

If Martz is so great why is he still unemployed ????

Ceedub

I have a real bad feeling about this hire, just bad, bad, bad. We have a coaching staff of Neanderthals, old school types who prefer smash mouth to brains and cunning. This is the antithesis of Bill Walsh’s system. I’m hoping this team disintegrates in time for Holmgren to come in and re-establish order and sanity. I’m not sure it is possible with the Yorks helming this sinking ship.

Chris

C-ROD it is you that is a fake fan…. How long have you been a fan 5 years? No old school 49ers fan would support this garbage front office and coaching staff runnning this franchise into the ground. If you care about the niners you would be ripping them too and not be cool with the niners being one of the worst organizations in football. I will go to every pathetic game next year just like this one but nobody that knows anything about football can be happy with this move.

NM 9er fan

Tim’s right: 1) Jimmy Raye’s a good guy, and 2) it’s going to be Singletary’s offense all the way.

There’s no point worrying about any of it until the regular season starts, and the W-L record will determine exactly how good a move this is.

‘Til then, let’s watch how it all plays out and enjoy the show.

jsl

Dumb choice, but Singletary’s never been accused of being bright. Problem is that in his 12 years as an OC, his teams have had THREE winning seasons. Hue Jackson would have been a lot better. This is just stupid all around.

moto

The effectiveness of the offense vs. a good d can be nearly reduced to predictability [why first down plays making subsequent short yard downs is critical] and the off. line. The great line, obviously not present in 7sq’d-ville, can make predictability moot. Martz had been around so long, the better def. coaches knew his tendencies despite all the trickeration. The combo of Singletary and Rae?–might be like Gruden’s super bowl vs. his own playbook. Gore’s career will probably be shortened a few years, they better find a solid fullback somewhere, Davis will be doing a lot more o-line work, and the defense might fall apart from the possession time deficit.

Hefty Lefty

The state of professional sports in the Bay Area is nearing the bottom. The 49ers, Raiders and Warriors all have disfunctional and clueless owners and their teams records back that up. The Giants and A’s are now being operated by a couple of tightwads who think that a .500 record is a ‘good’ team. Thank goodness for ‘the men of teal’ in San Jose. I dislike basketball so who cares about that one. As for the Raiders and 49ers, they will NEVER be much until both owners are gone. A blind man see that both owners are the reason for the disfunctionality in those organizations. A successful professional football organization starts with a knowledgable owner, it always starts at the top. Oh, darn, nobody can fire an owner !!!

Kyle

This is only stupid if it doesn’t work. We don’t know that it won’t.

We have a great RB, an OL that needs work but is built for running (rather than pass protection). We do not have a particularly talented QB; he’s good at not screwing up, though. And, we have what some have called one of the best blocking TEs in history. We have a lot of pieces for a very good run team.

Let give it a chance. If we can actually win the turnover battle we might actually win a lot of games.

touchdown80

I’m totally shock about this hiring, is this the best the organization or the so called ” football genius / management” can come up with, how about these names as OC, Brian Bellick, Jim Fassel, Steve Mariuchi, Jon Gruden and Dennis Green. I can go on forever… we’re not going anywhere with this leadership..

pboss

This is setting up perfectly for a one and done year for Singletary. We can go after Holmgren or Shanahan next year!

mike

“Jim Hosteler is a better choice than Jimmy Raye……its so damn SAD to be a 49er fan right now…..”

You can’t be serious. Hostler was only OC twice in his career and both years were disasters. Jimmy Raye at least was OC when Eric Dickerson ran for 2100 yards, and oversaw a 4000 yard season from Elvis Grbac. Cheer up! The 49ers are still promising, depending on how the rest of their offseason goes.

mike

Oh, and I just remembered. Remember Tom Moore pre-Peyton Manning? ZZZZZZZZ. Sometimes you have to look at what he does with what he has to work with. Not a bad choice, and if I don’t lose my job, I’m buying season tickets. Any of you fair-weather fans want to sell yours to me?

Mike

What do Martha Raye and Jimmy Raye have in common? They’re both about the same age, and the amount of excitement they produce for 49er fans is equal to the points SF will score in about half of its games this year: zero. Brutal choice.

bullship

I really dont see the big negitive here- it is singltary’s team- as it should be. This has gotten blown out of preportion because of lack of news- if a team is gonna win or lose based on the OC- it should haave never hired singltary as the head coach-it should have waited till the off season and gone in a totally new direction- like the rams or TB- but to complain that they didnt get a ‘ jazzy oc’ hire is just whining. Hopefully the guy does a good job with what he has- and hopefully the niners get some better players to help the offense.

I hope the pass on sanchez- or ANY QB in the 1st round- and pick one in the 3rd to 6th that can maybe become a player. I do not think ny of the QBs that are out there this year are ‘locks’ and the niners have pressing needs at pass rusher, OL , WR and DB that will help them more than a qb this next year imo. I actually think that if hill had started the year- and with sing coaching- the niners would have had a shot at the playoffs- and Zona has proved that all you need to do is get in it to win it…….so lets give Big mike a chance to build his own staff and team before running him out of town…….

Mike

Hey, Jed — way to fire up the fan base, son…especially while you’re trying to sell a new stadium deal in these economic times. Shrewd.

Gurvinder Johal

Mike Singletary is our Head Coach! And he believes that Jimmy Raye is out guy. He did a nice job last season so lets let this next season play out before you start to panic. 49ers don’t need a Arizona Cardinals like offense to win games, Singletary wants the offense to just do enough and let the defense do the rest. I believe in what he’s doing and he’s trying to build a certain mentality here. You will see a lot of Frank Gore and we might even see Vernon Davis being used correctly next season like he was under Norv Turner. I’m not going to panic just yet, i’m optimistic that we will have a top 10 defense and a game managing offense that will get us into the playoffs and in time Tom Rathman will be promoted to OC.

DennyPat

Hi Tim K (the Niner hater)
Man, you soooo like to slam a new guy before he has a chance to do anything! It is stupid of you. You make a big point of saying Sing is not an offense minder coach……..well neither are you.
Give the guy, the head coach, & the team a chance. Quit your whinning.

Raider Nation

HAHAHAHAHA. Look at you whiny little 40whiner fans crying and consoling each other. Its easy to see why every fan in the league constantly makes fun of you whiner fans . do you want some cheese with that whine? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Ernie Konnyu

Raye is an uninspired hire who will do a workmanlike job, stay two or three years and maybe rescue a resigned Alex from the scrap heap.

Given our middling offense, it looks to me like Sing is going to try winning with defense and 17 points average per game. That’s only true if free agency can furnish a top line wide receiver (HowsYourMama?), a yard gaining fullback and a good right tackle. And, further that’s only true if the draft can provide a big time nose tackle and a rangy safety. A lot of ifs but doable. If so, we have a first round and out play-off team in 2009.

Lorenzo

I, for one, am psyched to see this Singletary experiment play out. Why? Because MS has a plan. We all know where MS stands on his offensive and defensive philosophy. He will carry out his plan, whether he goes down in flames or succeeds.
This is a much better situation than with Nolan. You didn’t know what Nolan stood for or what he was trying to accomplish. He only seemed concerned with his self-image and damage control.
I think next season is going to be fun again.

JoeM

yeah, that’s true. but what nobody is considering is the seasonal affectedness disorder that plagues singleton. he need the dark, sharp icy rain of san francisco’s winter, and we’re in a serious drought – blue skies, no clouds. he’s in a downward spiral. just like a beach sagewort, the dude needs rain. nuff said.

Buster

“Jim Hosteler is a better choice than Jimmy Raye……its so damn SAD to be a 49er fan right now…..”
— Comments like this make me wonder if the 49er fan IQ has now dipped below raider fan. It’s hilarious to see people write that this guy or that guy would be a better pick when they didn’t even know their names a month ago. And the “run on every down” BS even though MS has clarified about a dozen times his goal is to be able to force the run when they HAVE A LEAD, something that cost them games this year. You know, like the Steelers, Titans and even the Eagles to some degree. It’s basic football 101 yet the idiots here seem to think that they have a far beeter football mind that Singletary or Raye. Here’s the deal…if the Niners suck, you got your twisted wish, congratulations. And if they don’t, stay the f**k off our bandwagon because we will be stomping on your fair weather fingers to knock you off. Skepticism is great but the amount of people here actively hoping for failure is nauseating.

Positive K

What blows my mind is how people can project into the future and say they know today that the season and the future is over. Thats wayyyy too dramatic. If you are going to get into all kinds of crazy speculation why not look at the signing as a sign that Rathman is the heir apparent and he will be practically running their offense? Then will you say how brilliant he is? Mike Singletary is not Mike Nolan so get over yourselves. The offseason is way too long to listen to extended fits of whining and moaning.

Parag Marathe

Fans,
I know you have a lot of skepticism on our choice of Raye, but listen up. I did a full comprehensive regression analysis, with our upgraded DOS 5.5 SW on our cutting edge 8086 Turbo XT at that! Furthermore, it shows us the probability of winning was 1/30 next year and with our economically depressed times, the value proposition equated to 95 fold to make this a guaranteed 105% success probability (as opposed to Nolan which was only 102.5%).

P.S. Wait until next week where we have another surprise for you: Jim Everett back from retirement (shhhhhhhhh! Don’t let the league on our little secret. They’re just stealing all our candidate like Linehan)! It’s going to be old-school smashmouth legends football! Yehaaawwww!

Sincerely,
Parag

DisgruntalFan

Life is short. How many more years for us to see the glory of 49ers football again? I wasted all the Sundays of the last 7 years (changed personal schedule, cancelled dates, and argued with girlfriend over watching Niners games vs. going out, etc.) only to witness this team sucked. Again and again, they played poorly, game plans were boring, they often got beaten and were humiliated by the opposing teams. The Niners has made many mediorce opposing players turned into stars on national TV with touchdowns, sacks, and interceptions. Their season ended in December for so many years.

How long can we wait? Even if Singletary sucks and Raye is a second version of Hostler, it will take York another 2-3 years to fire them. It sucks to be 49ers fan!

Paul Hofer

This is a brutal pick. Singletary has no clue. But even running off tackle every play, the Niners are still better than the hapless Raiders, who haven’t won anything in more than 20 years. I shake my head every time I see some idiot ride by in his half-ton pick-up truck that he never hauls anything in with the stupid Raider Nation decal on the back that he affixed before the Raiders imploded in their last SB appearance.

Scappman

The recent choices that the 49er’s front office have made seem to lack good judgement. Unfortunately this has been the theme for the last 7 plus years. Born a long time ago in S. F., I rooted for a team that never won a title until they hired a bright, innovative head coach by the name of Bill Walsh. Walsh was a strong motivator and Singletary appears to have that quality as well but I’m afraid that’s where the similarity ends. The type of offense that Singletary proposes is so similar to what Nolan tried to run, one has to wonder if the decision to hire him as Head Coach makes any sense. Singletary’s new OC has a mediocre track record and is not what you would call a cutting-edge-play-caller.

Had the front brass not jumped the gun, they would have had the chance to land a proven Head Coach who learned from Bill Walsh AND still offered Singletary the opportunity to have almost total control over the defense. This combo would have given the 49er’s the best shot at getting back to the Superbowl. Singletary’s plan run the ball will be exposed as too one-dimensional and will ultimately lead to more wasted years that will be hard to stomach for 49er’s fans.

#7 Singletary has done nothing to disappoint me.I actually cant wait for the season to start.Maybe you and all the others with negative coments should move down south.

mike

Haters, please. Get off Singletary’s nuts! He made a solid pick. Under normal circumstances, Jackson wold’ve been a better choice, but if he succeeded, he would’ve been a head coach the next year, giving us a grand total of 8 OCs in 8 years. If Raye is decent, and I expect he will be, he’ll give us stability on offense that we haven’t had since Mariucci. After all, he’s 65, and more likely to give us 2 or 3 solid seasons and not likely to become a HC a la McCarthy and Turner did after one year. Plus, his system is similar to Turner’s system, so Smith and Hill should be familiar with it. Hopefully then will Alex Smith fulfill his potential (or at least be on the field consistently).

mike

Oh, sorry for the profanity. Good for MS for considering stability, which is something Nolan didn’t consider when he hired Martz last year.

A couple of newsflashes: 1) It’s not 1984 anymore 2) Walsh died a while back 3) Eddie D is not coming back 4) The Dorks own the team and are not going to sell it so anyone who thinks differently is setting themselves up for disappointment 5) Not one person has any idea whether MS/JR will work or fail 6) definatively saying otherwise makes one look like a fool 7) It’s f-ing JANUARY… people predicting the fate of the 2009 season before the 2008/2009 Superbowl is even over (no draft, no FA signings) are not too bright and actually show they have no grasp of how the NFL works. Stop it. It’s embarrassing sane 49er fans everywhere. What do you think this is, Cleveland!

Scappman

The Niners were able to pass the ball last year. They came from behind with the passing game to put Wins on the board. Like it or not Martz called the offensive plays, not Singletary. I think anyone would have to admit Singletary is not well versed in calling plays for the offense. So Martz is jettisoned and JR is a second choice replacement OC. JR seems to work well and players like him but his record doesn’t seem to measure up and that’s why TM wrote his article. So it seems Singletary settled for JR because they saw eye to eye about how to run the offense. To run the ball at the expense having a well-balanced passing attack will be dismantling the best part of last year’s offense. I love the 49ers and want to see them build on last year’s strengths not try to change to an old-style smash-mouth running game that won’t be competitive against the better teams in the NFL. I think they will never get past being mediocre unless they can pass AND run the ball effectively. The element of surprise is key to a successful offense. Arizona couldn’t run the ball in the first part of the season and when their passing game took off it opened things up so their running game became effective. The 49ers won five Superbowls with this style of offense regardless of different personnel over the years.
It just galls me to see Singletary not realizing what worked for the 49ers of the past as well as the doing the same for both Arizona and Pittsburgh this year. I like Singletary’s toughness. I just think he’s better suited to run the defense. I hope he changes and adapts to what will work best for the personnel that he has to work with. Look what happened to the Giants this year. Philly shut-down their strong running game and when they had to rely on the pass, Eli was picked-off. End of game because a good defense stopped the Giants running game. I want success for the 49ers, not another head coach who has a short-sided, one-dimensional,
approach that is easily stopped by a good NFL team. Nolan failed by taking the same approach. So yeah I’m critical of Singletary’s proposed offense but now is the time to raise questions, not three years down the road like what we faced with Nolan. I just hope Raye transends his track record and brings something innovative to the Niner’s offense and that combined with Singletary’s motivational skills the team will become focused and finally get back into the playoffs.

Gurvinder Johal

49ers will make the playoffs this upcoming season. It’ all good!!! No reason to worry about anything… whats funny is how a few dumbass raider fans found their way here and their posting some comments and hating on the niners lol. Which is wierd cuz last time i checked.. Niners were a superior team to that of the Oakland Faiders. I mean raiders r so worthless and they suck so much now, there fans r visiting niner websites haha.